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YOUR WASHINGTON
AND YOU!
A WEEKLY
REPORT
KARL MUNDT
SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
United States Senate
"FOR A FAIR CHANCE FOR A FREE PEOPLE"
VOLUME XVI (1954 NUMBER 34 - FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 1 OR AFTER
LAST EDITION OF 1954. With this issue of YOUR WASHINGTON AND
YOU, we are bringing to an end another year of weekly reports
from Washington. This concludes l6 years of these reports--
ten from the House and six during my first term as South
Dakota Senator.
Through this medium, we have been able to keep in close
contact with many thousands of South Dakotans. We are grateful for the many letters which have come in making suggestions for topics to be discussed in these weekly reports and for representing more adequately South Dakota viewpoints in Washington. We look forward to a further exchange of
viewpoints when Congress resumes next year. In the meantime, following our custom, we
shall publish no newsletters during the recess of Congress.
###
RECESS PLANS. By the time this newsletter reaches you, we hope and expect that most of
the folks from this office will be back home in South Dakota. Senator Mundt, W.E. 'Obey*
O'Brien, Gloria Giles, and Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Olson will maintain a senatorial service
office in Madison during the recess. It will always be open to serve you.
In Aberdeen, Robert McCaughey will maintain a senatorial service office to service
the folks of Northern South Dakota; in Spearfish, E. F. 'Fritz! Behrens and in Hot Springs,
Duane McDowell, will maintain similar offices. Folks having problems to discuss with the
Senator or with any phase of government, should call the nearest office to you. Our
Washington office will also be open during the entire recess.
In addition, Senator Mundt, 'Obey' O'Brien, Bob McCaughey, Fritz Behrens, and Duane
McDowell are all available to address your luncheon club, women's organization, farm
group, or community meetings should you so desire. Simply phone or write the office
closest to you and we shall be glad to meet with your group to discuss the record of the
83rd Congress or any subject of interest to you and related to the activities in Washington. We hope to be home by the time you read this report.
###
HIGH BATTING AVERAGE. At the conclusion of the sessions of the 83rd Congress, statisticians and Washington observers compiled the "batting average" of the Eisenhower Administration during the past two years. They came up with the remarkable figure of a batting
average of .830% - a figure never remotely approached by Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb in their
prime!
Averaged any way you choose, the record of the 83rd Congress was a most impressive
one. This was, indeed, an "action Congress" -- some have referred to it as "the work-
ingist Congress in American history". Over the past six weeks, Senate sessions averaged
about 12 hours per day of actual meetings to say nothing of the extra committee work and
the other senatorial duties. Compared with the averages of recent Democratic Congresses
the .830 percentage figure compares with those under President Truman in the years 1947
through 1952 when the averages were .477; .457; .441; .442; .404; and .349 respectively.
President Eisenhower developed a technique of conferences in advance of legislative proposals which accounts for his unprecedented record of achievement.
###
SOUTH DAKOTA FARED WELL. South Dakota interests were well protected and materially advanced during the sessions of the 83rd Congress in 1953 and 1954. For example, our
great Missouri River Development Program has gone ahead on schedule and prospects for
next year's construction activity are most encouraging. It is expected that in the next
fiscal year appropriations for expediting construction on the Oahe dam and reservoir,
near Pierre, will run between twenty-five and thirty millions of dollars. In fact, before leaving Washington I contacted the Bureau of the Budget recommending these figures
for next year. As a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, I am in position
to work for these large appropriations in the Committee room and in that capacity during
the past two years it has been possible to get for our South Dakota projects every
dollar recommended by the Bureau of the Budget. In fact, on several phases of the river
program, we have been able to move through the Appropriations Committee to procure EXTRA
funds for projects in the South Dakota section of the Basin, not included in Budget
Bureau recommendations.
South Dakota received other direct benefits from the 83rd Congress. For example,
the new tax bill grants special concessions to farmers and ranchers for tax credits for
soil and water conservation and for construction of grain storage facilities as well as
on the purchase of new farm machinery. Also, approval of the St. Lawrence Seaway -
after 20 years of Congressional conversation but no action - means that eventually South
Dakota farmers will benefit to the tune of from 10 to 15 cents per bushel on grain shipped
to the East Coast from South Dakota. REA and RTA loans to South Dakota co-ops were made
in large amounts and today South Dakota and North Dakota lead the Nation in loans made by
RTA to improve rural telephone service. The new District Water Shed legislation will be
of special benefit to South Dakota as will new features of the farm legislation granting
extra acres of production to wheat farmers following the practice of summer fallowing.
###

The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Some uses may be legal with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or compliance with the law. All use of DLSD material and content, whether utilized under fair use or used with written permission to publish, must name the Karl E. Mundt Historical & Educational Foundation, Karl E. Mundt Library, Dakota State University, as the original source for the material.

The work from which this copy was made did not include a formal copyright notice. This work may be protected by U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs reproduction, distribution, public display, and other uses of protected works. Some uses may be legal with permission from the copyright holder, if the copyright on the work has expired, or if the use is fair use or compliance with the law. All use of DLSD material and content, whether utilized under fair use or used with written permission to publish, must name the Karl E. Mundt Historical & Educational Foundation, Karl E. Mundt Library, Dakota State University, as the original source for the material.

Date Digitized

2009-07-06

Transcript

YOUR WASHINGTON
AND YOU!
A WEEKLY
REPORT
KARL MUNDT
SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
United States Senate
"FOR A FAIR CHANCE FOR A FREE PEOPLE"
VOLUME XVI (1954 NUMBER 34 - FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 1 OR AFTER
LAST EDITION OF 1954. With this issue of YOUR WASHINGTON AND
YOU, we are bringing to an end another year of weekly reports
from Washington. This concludes l6 years of these reports--
ten from the House and six during my first term as South
Dakota Senator.
Through this medium, we have been able to keep in close
contact with many thousands of South Dakotans. We are grateful for the many letters which have come in making suggestions for topics to be discussed in these weekly reports and for representing more adequately South Dakota viewpoints in Washington. We look forward to a further exchange of
viewpoints when Congress resumes next year. In the meantime, following our custom, we
shall publish no newsletters during the recess of Congress.
###
RECESS PLANS. By the time this newsletter reaches you, we hope and expect that most of
the folks from this office will be back home in South Dakota. Senator Mundt, W.E. 'Obey*
O'Brien, Gloria Giles, and Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Olson will maintain a senatorial service
office in Madison during the recess. It will always be open to serve you.
In Aberdeen, Robert McCaughey will maintain a senatorial service office to service
the folks of Northern South Dakota; in Spearfish, E. F. 'Fritz! Behrens and in Hot Springs,
Duane McDowell, will maintain similar offices. Folks having problems to discuss with the
Senator or with any phase of government, should call the nearest office to you. Our
Washington office will also be open during the entire recess.
In addition, Senator Mundt, 'Obey' O'Brien, Bob McCaughey, Fritz Behrens, and Duane
McDowell are all available to address your luncheon club, women's organization, farm
group, or community meetings should you so desire. Simply phone or write the office
closest to you and we shall be glad to meet with your group to discuss the record of the
83rd Congress or any subject of interest to you and related to the activities in Washington. We hope to be home by the time you read this report.
###
HIGH BATTING AVERAGE. At the conclusion of the sessions of the 83rd Congress, statisticians and Washington observers compiled the "batting average" of the Eisenhower Administration during the past two years. They came up with the remarkable figure of a batting
average of .830% - a figure never remotely approached by Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb in their
prime!
Averaged any way you choose, the record of the 83rd Congress was a most impressive
one. This was, indeed, an "action Congress" -- some have referred to it as "the work-
ingist Congress in American history". Over the past six weeks, Senate sessions averaged
about 12 hours per day of actual meetings to say nothing of the extra committee work and
the other senatorial duties. Compared with the averages of recent Democratic Congresses
the .830 percentage figure compares with those under President Truman in the years 1947
through 1952 when the averages were .477; .457; .441; .442; .404; and .349 respectively.
President Eisenhower developed a technique of conferences in advance of legislative proposals which accounts for his unprecedented record of achievement.
###
SOUTH DAKOTA FARED WELL. South Dakota interests were well protected and materially advanced during the sessions of the 83rd Congress in 1953 and 1954. For example, our
great Missouri River Development Program has gone ahead on schedule and prospects for
next year's construction activity are most encouraging. It is expected that in the next
fiscal year appropriations for expediting construction on the Oahe dam and reservoir,
near Pierre, will run between twenty-five and thirty millions of dollars. In fact, before leaving Washington I contacted the Bureau of the Budget recommending these figures
for next year. As a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, I am in position
to work for these large appropriations in the Committee room and in that capacity during
the past two years it has been possible to get for our South Dakota projects every
dollar recommended by the Bureau of the Budget. In fact, on several phases of the river
program, we have been able to move through the Appropriations Committee to procure EXTRA
funds for projects in the South Dakota section of the Basin, not included in Budget
Bureau recommendations.
South Dakota received other direct benefits from the 83rd Congress. For example,
the new tax bill grants special concessions to farmers and ranchers for tax credits for
soil and water conservation and for construction of grain storage facilities as well as
on the purchase of new farm machinery. Also, approval of the St. Lawrence Seaway -
after 20 years of Congressional conversation but no action - means that eventually South
Dakota farmers will benefit to the tune of from 10 to 15 cents per bushel on grain shipped
to the East Coast from South Dakota. REA and RTA loans to South Dakota co-ops were made
in large amounts and today South Dakota and North Dakota lead the Nation in loans made by
RTA to improve rural telephone service. The new District Water Shed legislation will be
of special benefit to South Dakota as will new features of the farm legislation granting
extra acres of production to wheat farmers following the practice of summer fallowing.
###